


Litter

by BlackKittens



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Pregnant Keith (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 17:57:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17085023
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackKittens/pseuds/BlackKittens
Summary: “A litter,” Shiro repeated for the twelfth time as they drove home from Keith’s ultrasound appointment. “I can’t believe we’re having a litter. How are we going to handle five babies at once, Keith?”Keith didn't answer, only hummed happily, smoothing his hand over his flat stomach in the passenger seat. If he heard Shiro, he didn't acknowledge him.





	Litter

**Author's Note:**

> I've been editing this and don't know what I'm doing anymore. You know that one fic you always have that you can't quite get to your standards but you don't want to delete? Yeah, this is that fic.

“A litter,” Shiro repeated for the twelfth time as they drove home from Keith’s ultrasound appointment. “I can’t believe we’re having a litter. How are we going to handle five babies at once, Keith?”

Keith didn't answer, only hummed happily, smoothing his hand over his flat stomach in the passenger seat. If he heard Shiro, he didn't acknowledge him.

Shiro shook his head. Out of all the things he had least expected about this scenario, it was that his husband of all people would go into stereotypical omega mode by being utterly  _ thrilled _ that he was carrying five babies inside of him that Shiro  _ least _ expected. What he had expected was Keith to balk, at the very least. But nope; he had been hypnotized by a happy spell since the moment their embryo quintuplets appeared on screen.

Not that Shiro himself wasn’t happy with the situation. They had planned this pregnancy out long before Keith’s last heat, taking every measure they could to ensure he got pregnant. They wanted kids. They were ready to have their first. But five at once? That blew Shiro away, especially since full-on litters had become rare events in the past one hundred and fifty years. These days, the largest ‘litter’ often had was triplets, and that wasn’t exactly common. Twins were more usual. Single birth were the absolute norm now a’days. Five, though? Almost entirely considered a thing of the past. There were few exceptions. Looked like they were one of those exceptions now.

Boy, were they lucky to have the careers they did post-Voltron, otherwise budgeting would have been about to become a nightmare.

“Did you say something, Shiro?” Keith asked, suddenly perking his head up, interrupting his train of thought.

“I - “ Shiro paused, then shook his head again. At least Keith had heard him after all. “Just expressing my astonishment that we’re about to have  _ five babies _ in seven months. We’re going to have to set up more nurseries.”

“Nah, we don’t have to do that,” Keith countered. “While they’re newborns, they don’t need that much space. We can stick all the cribs in the same room - maybe a bigger one than the guest room we originally picked out - and save the rest for when they’re a little older and need the extra space.”

“I don’t know,” Shiro said. “If one starts crying during nap time, that’ll wake the other four up. I’m not sure that’ll be worth it.”

Keith shrugged, returning his gaze to his stomach. “We’ll figure it out.”

Shiro didn’t respond. He  _ was _ happy. Ready to faint at the wheel, true, but happy. He was happy as an alpha, he was happy as a soon-to-be father, and he was happy as Keith’s ever loving and supportive husband. Shiro was prepared to go into full pampering and preparation mode as the pregnancy went on, taking care of Keith and their unborn babies to the best of his abilities. It was just -  _ five at once! _ They didn’t even already have one who they worked out all the first time parenting kinks with. This was going to take some serious work, if their lives were going to maintain any level of stability and sanity.

“I can’t wait to have them,” Keith continued in awe. “I wonder how many boys and how many girls we’ll have? Or if they’ll all be the same gender? We need to start thinking of names. Should we bother giving them middle names?”

Shiro opened his mouth and closed it. Not exactly the discussion he wanted to have right now, but all right, whatever pleased his mate. “I don’t know. I mean, they don’t really  _ need _ middle names. I don’t have one.”

“But I like middle names. They - You know what, we can cross that bridge later, then,” Keith decided, flattening one hand over his abdomen and placing the other on top of it. “What kind of first names should we give them? Do you have any you always pictured using someday?”

Shiro hesitated, still stuck on the fact there was  _ five of them _ in Keith’s womb, then forced himself to think about it. Once upon a time, he hadn’t really believed he would have kids in the first place; his disease would surely get in the way of any attempt at fatherhood, so why put it on the bucket list? That didn’t mean he didn’t have names he liked, though.

With a mischievous smirk, he glanced at his omega out of the corner of his eye. “I do like Keith Jr. for a boy. Maybe Takashi Jr. if we have another, but I’m pretty fond of Keith. Can we name our first son Keith, please?”

His husband laughed.  _ “No. _ My name already rhymes with my dad’s name. Heath, Keith, and Keith? No. No juniors. Maybe as middle names if we decide to go down that route, but not as first names.”

“Fair enough,” Shiro chuckled. “What about you? Got any name ideas yourself?”

Keith hummed again. “Honestly, not really. Nothing I’m dead set on yet, anyhow.”

“Do you want to name our kids after anyone?” Shiro suggested. “Like how Lance and Allura named their daughter Alforia?”

Keith shook his head. After a moment, he pursed his lips, pondering.

“Like I said,” he began slowly, “no juniors. But I might be okay with similar sounding names? For a few of our babies at least. I don’t mind honoring the fallen, I just don’t want any unnecessary weight on their shoulders. Like - if we named one after Ulaz. I wouldn’t want our kid to feel like he or she has to live up to his name.”

Shiro blinked, mentally freezing at mention of Ulaz. He hadn’t had anyone in particular in mind when he threw out the idea, other than the Alfor example, but that...he certainly didn’t mind the thought of honoring the man who freed him from Galra imprisonment, reconnected him with Earth, and introduced them to the Blade of Marmora. He owed Ulaz so much for what he had done in such a short time. To this day, Shiro wished he could thank him properly. Keith made a good point, however; Shiro didn’t want his theoretical child feeling like they had to live up to the name of the man who saved their father’s life and helped save the universe either. That was a lot to bear.

“We can ask Kolivan or your mom for similar sounding names,” he replied softly.

Keith purred. It was something he had started doing since his heat ended. It was a sign of an exceptionally pleased omega, and the sound sent pleasant chills down Shiro’s spine every time the noise graced his ears.

“I like that,” Keith said, smiling widely. “God. Five babies to name. We’re going to be dads, Shiro. I can’t believe it. Can you?”

Shiro cracked a small smile. “No, I can’t.”

They were. They were going to be dads. This was all they had wanted for the last year now, and they were finally on the homestretch to being parents. Deep down, despite his concerns, Shiro couldn’t believe their luck either.

That was the silver lining. No - that was the best part. Shiro had never thought he would make it to the point in his life where he wanted kids, had never believed he’d survive long enough. Or, even if he did survive long enough, he would be too weak and constricted in bed to be a real father to them. Yet here he was, with the love of his life, healthy as a horse and about to have a real litter.

No matter the obstacles undoubtedly ahead, he couldn’t ask for better.

Shiro took a deep breath, in through his nose and out through his mouth. Keith was right; they would figure it out. They would be okay. They were on the first steps of an amazing journey he couldn’t wait to start. Five newborn babies on their first run was certainly going to be daunting - he was positive of that - but he already loved each one with every fiber of his being. He could put his worries away for now. They had time.

Keith suddenly broke his silence again, this time voice cracking nervously. “Shiro?”

“Huh?” Shiro pulled to a stop at a red light and looked at his husband.

Keith stared at him with big, wide eyes. All the color had drained from his face. His hands were trembling over his shirt.

Alarms immediately sounded in Shiro’s head. “Baby, what’s wrong? Are you okay!? Sh-should I turn around and head back to the hospital!?”

Keith swallowed. “...Shiro, we’re about to have five kids in one delivery, our  _ first _ delivery. How are we going to survive!?”

Shiro stared at him. Then he chuckled. Oh,  _ now _ he was balking.

“We’ll find our way, baby.” He leaned over, setting his hand over Keith’s on his abdomen. “We always do.”

Although his shoulders remained tense, Keith’s face relaxed. “Right. What am I thinking?”

"Probably what I was a minute ago," Shiro pulled away, driving forward as the light turned green.

Keith furrowed his brow. "Hold on, you were worried until a minute ago? Why didn't you tell me?"


End file.
